Executive Master of Business Administration

In Bloomberg Businessweek 2012 rankings, Krannert earned A's in teaching, analytical skills/critical thinking, general management skills, and leadership skills.  Financial Times ranked the Global EMBA #2 in international experience.  U.S. News & World Report ranked Krannert's production/operations program 7th, the supply chain/logistics program 9th, and the information systems program 12th.

Last fall, Eduniversal released its overall ranking of U.S. business schools with a major international influence. Krannert ranked 16th, up from 19th a year ago, and was granted "five palms." Schools could rate from two palms - considered a good business school with regional influence - to five palms - universal business schools with major international influence. Eduniversal is a European-based online higher education selection tool. Its business school rankings are based on program reputation, graduates' beginning salary and student satisfaction.

What does Krannert offer?

The executive education programs at Purdue offer two unique MBA opportunities:

Our Executive MBA (EMBA) program has been in place since 1983, but in September 2011 we rolled out our new, improved program that has an exciting new look. The new design incorporates residencies and distance learning components reducing time away from work and family, but keeping the on-campus experience. The new program includes enhancements like electives to complement core courses. These electives give our students options to take courses in areas they are particularly interested in.

The IMM (Global EMBA) program is implemented with six global partner schools to provide a stronger international immersion experience while gaining the management skills needed to succeed. Like the EMBA program, the IMM utilizes residencies and distance learning to provide a format designed to help working professionals succeed.

To ease comparison across our programs and with other schools you may be considering, we've prepared a table that contains the information that students find most important.  We suggest you print this table and add in information about other programs of interest.  This will help you make an objective comparison of the Purdue EMBA programs' value with other programs. 

How is Krannert different?

The Krannert programs build upon Purdue’s world-class excellence. The key feature of both programs is the residency approach. This means that for each module, students work on homework assignments, group projects, and on-line discussions for about 10 weeks and then come to campus for a one or two-week residency. During the residency, the faculty applies the assignments the students have done during self-study and help apply it to their companies. This is in contrast to most executive MBA programs where students come to campus every weekend or every few weeks. Our approach allows people to come from anywhere in the world (which they do) and not have to drop from the program if they switch jobs or are relocated to a new city.

The concentrated residencies allow the students to focus on the classroom, so the learning is heightened and the lessons can be applied immediately in their companies after the residencies. There is a keen emphasis on team and the sharing of expertise, so students learn not only from the faculty, but also from their peers. The residencies facilitate the formation of networking and friendship bonds among students that last a life-time. Additionally, both programs include an action learning project in which students will serve as consultants and problem-solve for a sponsoring firm, which provides practical, hands-on learning.

The Executive MBA program’s electives also break the traditional approach found at most schools in which students take the same courses with their cohort with the same offerings repeated annually. In contrast, our students can choose functional electives specific to their cohort as well as immersion electives tailored to their particular interests.

What is the ROI for our programs?

The program provides on-line and in-class education, lodging during all the residencies (at Purdue or abroad), most meals during residencies, transportation during residencies to companies and social events, books/e-books, and related classroom materials. The cost of the program is $75,000 with a return on investment of 121% within two years after graduation (Wall Street Journal, 2008). After graduation, students join our dynamic alumni group with networking opportunities at alumni receptions and Alumni Days on campus where you can return and brush up on topics of interest.

Who are our students?

The residency format of every three months allows us to recruit managers and managers-to-be from around the world. Our Executive MBA program is three-quarters from the U.S. and one-quarter international from Latin America, Europe and Asia. In contrast, the Global MBA (IMM) program is one-quarter from the U.S. and three-quarters international. The average age in both programs is 36 with an average work experience of 13 years. Both programs require a minimum of 5 years work experience. This is critical to the discussion and expertise exchange that occurs in the classroom.

Next steps?

We invite you to look at the detailed information provided through the links on the left. Our team is ready to answer your questions, welcome you to campus for a visit, or connect you with an alum who has faced many of the same questions and challenges regarding making this important decision. We look forward to hearing from you.